Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

T he morning had come earlier than Amelia wanted, and she had yet to find solace in sleep or time. Her anger still gnawed at her, and she would not spend the day trapped in the estate with her unfortunate husband. Instead, Amelia proposed an outing to the local shops with Charlotte, and her friend was delighted to join her.

Several of the businesses they usually frequented had yet to open, but the pair were able to find their way into a lovely hat and accessory shop. Amelia walked through the heavily perfumed space, idly browsing the bonnets and chip straw hats decorated with silk ribbon. There were even a few bindings for a chiffonet on display, though little about the items held her attention.

“Amelia,” Charlotte breathed, looping her arm through the Duchess’s, “you’ve been nearly silent the entire morning. I can plainly see your sour mood from across the room. What bothers you?”

“It is nothing, Charlotte. I am sure I will be well come supper. It is likely just an imbalance of sorts.”

Charlotte cocked a brow at her, not believing Amelia’s lie in the slightest. Amelia let out a heavy sigh, pulling Charlotte along toward the rear of the shop, where a small settee was set up.

“It should come of little surprise to you that the Duke has found a way to incur my ire yet again.”

Rolling her lips so that she would not laugh, Charlotte shook her head, offering Amelia a sympathetic hand to hold.

“What had the Duke done now?”

“It is only that…I had thought we’d come to an agreement. Richard seemed as if he understood my desires, the reason why my freedom is so coveted and fought for. But the moment we visited his friend, Frederick, for a dinner party, he acted as if I am a simpleton and cannot recall how to properly compose myself. You heard him at dinner as well. He was downright rude to the Viscount. And I know it comes from a place of envy, but the Duke would not admit as much.”

Furrowing her brow, Charlotte regarded the Duchess, and Amelia felt pinned beneath her friend's stare. After a moment, the woman adjusted in her seat, taking Amelia’s hand more completely.

“Amelia, I ask this because I care for you dearly, so please answer in earnest. What incident occurred to make you think the Duke was on your side?”

Sucking in a deep breath, Amelia recounted the evening and following morning with Richard after she had been foxed most profoundly by Selina’s awful drink preparations. Charlotte listened aptly, taking in each word that the Duchess uttered without giving away her thoughts through her expression.

“I see,” Charlotte at last offered. “I have a notion as to what might truly lay behind your vexation. It seems to me that you had wanted the Duke to be on your side that the idea of him there at your side filled you with gladness.”

Amelia swallowed. It did bring her a measure of joy to imagine the Duke and her no longer at odds. Though, she was unsure why that mattered to the situation at hand.

“Charlotte, I don’t see what that has to do with his most recent offense. Of course, I was happy for an ally as opposed to an enemy.”

She shook her head. “I believe it is more than that, Amelia. You… care for the Duke. It is evident in everything you say and do. I believe you are completely enamored of your husband.”

Amelia leaned back, the shock forcing her to the back of her chair. She did not think of the Duke that way. Yes, they had tangled together, but she was not so na?ve to believe that their physical encounters meant anything in relation to their emotional attachment to one another.

“Charlotte, I…that is most impossible.”

Charlotte smiled in a way that spoke volumes. Amelia could see the sympathy and loving sternness behind her eyes. The woman silently pleaded with Amelia to see the reality that lay around her. Still, it managed to astonish her. It was certain that emotions were running high, and something had been building between the Duke and Amelia.

She had just been unwilling to admit what it was.

“I…I have never been in…love, Charlotte.” Amelia chuckled roughly, her chest aching. “What am I to do about it?”

Her friend squeezed her hand, bringing the back of it up to her lips and kissing the delicate fabric of Amelia’s glove.

“I do not know, my dearest friend. I am not experienced in the way of these things either. Perhaps you should try once more to speak to the Duke, to your husband .”

Amelia sighed, the sound bleeding into that of an exhausted scoff. “The thought is both dreadful and seems especially futile. I spoke to the man the other day, and after all that, he insulted me as no one before him has managed to do. I feel as if I am nothing to Richard, a means to an end.”

“I am sorry, Amelia. Still, perhaps you should hear the news before it reaches you from elsewhere.”

“What news?”

Her heart dropped, and a dread that was still unplaced wormed itself into her stomach. Amelia knew Charlotte’s countenance like she knew the back of her hand, and there was a layer of distraught tension stretched beneath her otherwise sunny exterior.

“The Viscount St. Vincent. He was…he was attacked, I’m afraid. The man is most gravely injured. It happened shortly after his departure from the dinner party. The physicians have been with him all night according to word spread through the evening.”

Amelia’s stomach dropped. She remembered the offense she’d paid to Richard before she’d stormed off, accusing him of being jealous of the Viscount’s interactions with her. Dread crawled up her spine. Amelia had not meant for the Viscount to suffer any ill will. Had Richard been so upset that he did something rash?

No, he wouldn’t. That is not the type of man Richard is.

But Amelia found it challenging to dismiss the worry. “That is awful news, Charlotte. God, that poor man. He is a terrible rake but in no way deserves to suffer as such. Have the others been able to put forth any clues regarding the culprit? Magnus and Isaac were in attendance as well as Lord Emerton himself.”

Shaking her head, Charlotte’s eyes dropped to the space between them on the settee. “I’m afraid not. My brother was tied up in conversation with Ethel, and both Lord Emerton and Lord Ellingham were in the dining room, I believe. Too far from the scene to have been valuable witnesses. None of the group was outside when the Viscount left.”

Amelia felt a wave of concern. She had left abruptly after her disagreement with Richard. She had not seen the Viscount outside when she left and had the coach return her to Heartwick. Richard had been forced to hire a yellow bounder to deliver him back home. As far as she knew, the Viscount was still in attendance at the dinner party when she left.

“I feel so awful for the Viscount. I had accused Richard of being envious of the man. I would hate to think that the two of them came to blows over it.”

Charlotte straightened, her brows raising and then pinching together. “Do you truly think that the Duke had something to do with the attack?”

Amelia shook her head, realizing at once that she could not bring herself to think so poorly of the Duke, no matter what they had said to each other.

“No, that is not what I mean. I only worry. I was not there, and my imagination is running away with itself.”

Neither of them spoke for a moment. There was much to consider with regard to her personal stake in the future of the Duke, and it seemed in the health and well-being of the Viscount. After another moment, Charlotte stood from the settee, offering a hand to Amelia.

“Well, we shall hold the man in our thoughts and hope that this is all sorted out quickly. Let us finish our outing before the weather sours on us.”

Her friend had always been quick to steer a subject away from the serious, but Amelia had to agree with her. There was little that she could do for the Viscount except to pay her respects, which she would arrange with his steward so as not to disturb him. Amelia stood up, joining Charlotte once more, and they set off to tour the rest of the shops.

As they stepped out onto the street, however, Amelia bumped into a tall gentleman who sought to enter the hat shop. She stumbled back, caught by the elbow by the person who knocked into her.

“Apologies! I did not mean to send you flying like that. But it appears to have been a good means for locating you.”

Amelia paused, shaking herself as she looked up at the man who addressed her.

“Hugh? My goodness. What are you doing here?”

Stepping back, Amelia looked over Richard’s brother, remembering the Duke’s rather intense means of keeping her from speaking to the man.

“I was looking for you, actually.” Hugh’s expression switched from the surprise to a reflection of his discomfort. “Might I have a word in private with you?”

Swallowing hard, Amelia studied the young man before her. His eyes pleaded in earnest for a moment of her time, and Amelia had been welcoming to Hugh’s presence when they met last. He was a pleasant man as far as she could tell, and she had to admit that curiosity as to his relationship with Richard peaked within her.

“Of course.” She turned to her friend. “Charlotte, it has been so wonderful to see you. Would you please excuse me to hear the appeal of Lord Hugh?”

Charlotte dipped into a slight curtsey and nodded. “Certainly, Your Grace. I will call upon you at home shortly.”

They bid each other adieu, and Amelia gestured to Hugh, encouraging him to walk with her.

“Please, Lord Hugh, I find myself pressed for time. What is this about?”

He sighed, the understanding clear on his face, and Richard’s brother set a steady pace for them as he began to explain.

“I understand that my brother does not wish to speak with me. I would not be surprised if he went so far as to forbid you from doing so.”

Hugh looked over at her, and Amelia offered a knowing smile. “Perhaps.”

Chuckling lightly, Hugh released a long exhale. “I imagined as much. The truth is I am here to implore your assistance. I am desperate to speak with him again, and I know that I stand no chance of doing so without your help. It has been several years since I’ve spoken more than a few words to my brother, and I aim to change that.”

Amelia considered the man. She knew so little of Richard’s childhood, and the strain between the two brothers was as yet a mystery to her.

“Take no offense, Hugh, but I must ask why. Why, after all these years, do you seek out your brother’s ear?”

He offered another nod. “I understand your concern, and it is a pleasing sign to know that you care enough about my brother to be protective.”

Doing her best to school her expression, Amelia focused on the road ahead, letting Hugh steer the conversation.

“We did not part on good terms, and I feel no shortage of guilt about that. In truth, I had not known the animosity or strain between our father and Richard until after my mother had already taken me away.”

Amelia paused, emphasizing her words to prompt Hugh to continue. “ Your mother?”

“Yes. The late Duke married my mother after Richard’s own had passed. She remains Richard’s stepmother, and I, his half-brother. She had thought it a good match, but it was quickly realized that Richard’s father was a cruel and contemptible man. He was a distant figure in my life for many of my years. I was doted on to a degree in the beginning, having been healthier than Richard for a time. But when the Duke’s health improved, our father turned his wrath on Richard.”

Pieces of Richard’s past were slipping into place, and Amelia’s mind churned together the thoughts in an effort to see the overall picture.

“Your mother left the estate, then? Why? Why not take both children if the home was so terrible.”

“She had attempted. I was oblivious to all of this as a child, of course. It is only now that I have heard of it from her because she fares poorly herself. It appears that she could no longer keep ahold of the truth, fearing that she might go to her death without revealing it to me. My mother took me away for my own protection, and when she sought to do the same with Richard, our father forbade it. He was a forceful man, and I have to believe that he threatened her—or, in fact, harmed her—in order to keep Richard at Heartwick.”

“Hugh,” Amelia gasped, her hand going to her mouth on reflex, “that is awful. Richard is aware of none of this?”

He shook his head. “He does not. At least the half of which involves my mother trying to take him as well. I am of a mind to believe that Richard still feels like she abandoned him when that was never her intention. I know my mother can come across as a distant woman. Still, it is because she continues to suffer the after-effects of a lifetime of abuse. First her own father and then her husband.”

So much of Richard’s distance began to make sense in Amelia’s mind. She could see it as the protective measure it was, and Richard had been pushed into the marriage by the very man who abused him. It was no wonder that he found it difficult to trust her.

“I wish to speak with Richard so that I might apologize and…beseech him to visit my mother. She wishes to deliver her own apologies but is too weak to travel.”

Amelia stopped, turning toward her brother-in-law and putting a firm hand on his arm.

“I will help you as best as I can, though I may not be the appropriate or most advantageous choice as a conspirator. Richard and I are at odds at present, and I am unsure if that will ever change. Still, I will do what I can.”

Hugh sighed, his face melting into a relieved smile. “I am incredibly grateful. Truly. Whatever assistance you can offer is more than I was granted before today. I will accept any and all of it gladly.”

“Of course, Hugh. I…I will send word to you as I can. Please, do feel free to call on me at the house when Richard is out for the day.”

They both smiled, offering a cordial embrace, and Amelia dipped down before straightening and angling herself toward the carriage that had brought her from Heartwick.

“I will speak with you soon.”

“Indeed. Again, my sincerest thanks, Your Grace.”

“We are family, Hugh. Please, call me Amelia.”

He smiled once more. Afterward, the Duchess hurried to her ride back to the estate. There was so much she wished to talk to Richard about. She only hoped that he would be of a mind to hear it.